KeeperTale
by Browa123
Summary: When a mysterious skeleton visits Sans and turns all the monsters from his home timeline into a clock, Sans, Frisk and Chara must team up and find a way to stop him, before DETERMINATION itself is at risk, the power to reset to save people is lost forever and the monsters of the underground are stuck as a clock for the rest of eternity. May contain various Undertale AUs.
1. Prologue

**KEEPERTALE**

Name the Fallen Human….

CHARA

The familiar bed of flowers lay beneath Frisk again. This time, they would do it. There was one last soul to save, and Frisk had reset many times to get to know them, the _real_ them. This time, Frisk felt he had every piece he needed to save them.

How many resets had Frisk gone through to do this? They believe they lost count at one-hundred. Just for them. They knew it was a lot more than they had anticipated, but Frisk couldn't live knowing he failed someone. Frisk walked into the next room.

"Howdy!"

Sans looked at the monitor of his machine again. This special piece of technology tracked fluctuations in time and space, and the current readings were very troubling. With readings like the ones he's seeing, Sans couldn't help but wonder how many times he's looked at this thing's monitor through the looping time. It would always reach a certain point before time reset, no one having any memory of the last loop.

It was when he started getting some serious Deja-vu that he decided to check the old machine. His suspicions were correct. This timeline was stuck in a loop. The loop starts when the human wakes up in the underground, and repeats when the kid reaches the end of the barrier. Because of the out of control loops and skips in the timeline, time itself was becoming very unstable. There could be a temporal collapse if this keeps up much longer.

Sans looked again at the readings. He had a thought about trying to convince Frisk to stop, but there was an irksome feeling that told him that he had already tried that, many times. It was pointless, the kid was too determined to stop doing…well…whatever it is they're doing playing Undergroundhog's Day. Sans also wanted an explanation, but faded memory reveals that the kid wasn't going to talk.

Sans became increasingly concerned about his friend's safety if a temporal collapse does happen. From his research into temporal stability, turning to dust would be much less a painful death them being slowly destroyed under the collapse of reality itself. The skeleton let out a long sigh, because, despite his efforts, there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable. He could only hope a way would open up to him.

"Perhaps….I could be of assistance?" rang out into the darkness. Sans looked up from his machine to see a slender skeleton, perhaps taller than Papyrus, standing in the doorway to the back room. He was cloaked in red, and had about eleven clocks on his personage. The most memorable part of this skeleton was the two long cracks on either side his skull. He seemed a bit hunched over and his hands seemed detached from the rest of them. He also made weird symbols when he spoke. His voice itself was eerie enough. He stared at Sans with his both eye sockets, though on seemed to be deformed into a more permanently sullen-looking state, while the other was wide. His grin seemed melted and the look he gave would give someone with a LOVE twenty the chills.

Sans gave the skeleton a sideways look back. "Assistance? What kind of assistance, pal?" Sans asked. The other's grin seemed to grow impossibly wider. He led himself over to Sans' machine and told Sans to observe the readings on the monitor. With one of his strange clocks, he winded it and the sever reading began to drop. The strange skeleton never touched the machine as he did so. Sans could only look with slight shock and amazement at what this man had done. "My powers are limited at the current. I need your permission in order to stop the resets, once and for all," the mysterious person explained. "I can stop this timeline from experiencing a temporal collapse, if you will just let me do my work," he explained.

No more resets. Everyone would be safe. The loop would break and Sans will be able to see beyond the sunset on Mt. Ebott and actually live again. He could stop feeling so pressured and weary of the next reset, he could see his brother and friends happy that their hopes and dreams would come true. He, himself could be happy again, he could actually give a full smile knowing it was over. The mystery skeleton held out his hand for a shake, the clock indented in the hole seemed to tick a bit softer, almost as if afraid.

Sans slowly lifted his hand, unsure if he could really shake it with this skeleton. There was now a really foreboding chill in the air as Sans began to grasp the other's hand with a bit of uncertainty. The two shook hands. "Excellent. I shall get stated right away then, Sans…" The skeleton chirped. "Wait, how do you know my name, I never…!" Sans began, before the hands of clocks the other was wearing began to spin out of control. Then there was dust. Monster dust filled the air and began to circle at this strange skeleton's feet, if he had any under that red robe.

Sans looked outside through the door in horror, as every monster in the underground began to dust at the same time and swirl inside. Papyrus looked terrified! Then, their souls, somehow stable, began to meld with the dust and form something. It was dangerous to meld monster souls and bodies like this, what was that crazy skeleton doing?!

The dust settled, and a gold rimmed clock had been made from the amalgamation of all the souls in the underground. It looked exactly like the eleven others the maniacal skeleton was wearing currently. Sans looked at the monster before him in horror. That's when he sees this man's LV. It was 9999. It was over twenty. How was that even possible? How many souls had been turned into those awful clocks Sans saw before him?! A man like that wasn't going to get what he wanted. As the other skeleton reached for the newly made clock, Sans took the most eccentric leap he had made in a long time diving for it, grabbing the clock and activating a shortcut to get away from the monster that had done this.

The other skeleton seemed to look a bit angry, upset his prize had slipped away from his grasp. "Very well, Sans the skeleton of timeline Omega-67. We'll do this the hard way…"


	2. Frisk and Chara

FRISK AND CHARA

Frisk had finally made it to their destination. New Home. The golden flowers glowed in the light as Frisk approached the bedroom. There was already someone sitting on the bed.

*Why are you doing this again? Go away.

Frisk tells Chara that they refuse to leave them behind. Chara looks off to the side. *I don't need to be saved, Frisk. I don't want to be saved. Frisk pulls something out of their pocket. *That old heart locket? I don't need it. Frisk pulls two more things out of their pocket, a pink piece of fabric and a yellow one. Each has a red heart on it in the center.

Frisk equips the pink scarf, a symbol of their friendship with Chara. *I said I don't want your stupid pity! Chara tore the yellow scarf in half; the red heart in the center gets split in two. It is almost irreparable now. But Frisk makes due by wrapping the pieces around Charas neck. The two pieces of the heart hang down on either end of their shoulders and the scarf looks complete, despite the split in the back. Chara looks at it curiously. *Why are you being….so nice to me, Frisk? After all I've done, I don't deserve…!

*Frisk gives Chara a hug. After a moment of silence and shock, Chara returns the hug. They begin to sob into the scarf loudly. Frisk tells Chara that even though they are not Asriel, and that they may be a human, but that should not get in the way of being friends. Frisk tells Chara that no everyone is a bad person, and that everyone can be a good person if they just try. Papyrus really is a good influence. *Frisk asks Chara if they feel any better. *I'm fine now, Frisk….thank you.

*SAVE –Chara.

*Frisk saved Chara, everyone is happy with this.

*A breeze flows by, a breeze filled with dust. Frisk and Chara see a monster soul travelling along the wind. It appears you might have a problem.

Frisk and Chara follow the monster soul. There are more than one and dust is leaking out of the apartments in New Home. More monster souls followed the dusty breeze as Frisk and Chara run after them, what was going on?! Frisk….felt their sins crawling on their back. *Frisk tells Chara that this must be their fault. They reset too much and now this must be the result of time flowing out of whack due to it. *No, that can't be it! You're too nice and gentle to cause something like this! Frisk felt their sins weighing on their neck. *Frisk tells Chara that this is their fault. They are responsible. Chara attempts to convince Frisk otherwise. Frisk hugs Chara tightly. *Come on, there has to be some survivors to whatever this is, we need to go now and try to get help! Frisk falls over. Chara sees Frisk on the ground and looks at them with worry.

Chara called for help….

 _But….nobody came._

Chara again calls for help.

 _But nobody came._

Chara screams for help.

 _But nobody came._

Chara cries for help.

 _But nobody came._

Chara whimpers a last cry for help…

 ** _Somebody came._**


	3. Somebody Came

**SOMEBODY CAME**

Sans had just finished wrapping the clock around his neck when he decided to go and look for survivors. His old clothes and sweater were torn, so in light that knowing that what he did now had somewhat of a purpose, he changed into something a little less wrecked. After all, he didn't just make Papyrus a costume for that cosplay party a while back. He just decided to change his mind about going last minute. The costume was left in his drawer for a while now, but it was still in pretty good condition all things considered. From the black boots, to the different set of longer shorts to the fluffy overcoat and blue turtleneck, the costume looked pretty good on Sans. It was a perfect fit, no complaints, and actually fit a little more comfortably than the normal outfit. Sans finished putting the black gloves on when he heard screaming in the distance, a call for help. With everything in order, Sans rushed out the door to find the survivor.

Sans looked upon the two humans at his feet. The kid, he recognised, fallen over and panting heavily, the other seemed to be attempting to support Frisk, and seemed to shy back when Sans approached, scared the skeleton might attack them. Sans offered a hand to help the other human up, while taking Frisk in his arms. "Looks like your friend took quite the fall here, kiddo. Follow me, I'll get 'em somewhere warm," Sans instructed, keeping Frisk secure in one arm and grabbing the other human's hand. Together, they walked to Grillby's. The human in green introduced themselves as Chara. Sans couldn't help but flinch at the familiarity of the name, Chara.

Arriving at Grillby's didn't take too long, and Frisk soon woke up in good health, although a little cold. Frisk let out a soft sneeze and looked away from Sans in shame. The poor kid must believe it was their fault; at least, that's what their expression was saying. "So, are there any other survivors, kids?" Sans asked the twosome. "Not that I could see, all of this dust and souls just started leaking from the apartments of New Home, and it just kept coming," Chara answered. Frisk nods in agreement. Sans puts a glove to his skull in thought. "Do you know what happened to all of those souls, all of that dust?" Sans asked curiously. Both of them shook their heads. "I see…. That proves you have nothing to do with it, then," the skeleton responds, getting a few confused looks from the humans. Frisk attempts to tell Sans about how they reset too much, but Sans waves it off. "Nah, it's more my fault than anything. If I hadn't have fallen for that fancy time-guy's magic tricks, this wouldn't have happened."

Frisk attempts to tell Sans that it still their fault for pushing it. Sans gives a shrug. "I guess we all have a part to play in this. The expression your wearing tells me you weren't doing it all in good fun," the skeleton states. Frisk nods and tells Sans about Chara, who in turn looks down ashamed. Frisk explains they didn't know the full extent of the consequences that were involved in saving Chara, and that they had underestimated how many resets it would take. Sans listens carefully to Frisks recount of everything, and about the nightmares he'd been having was Frisk's only way of revealing Chara to save them. "Like I said, we all have a part to play in this, and it's about time we take action to fix all of this. I know what happened to the monsters, we've just got to find a way to reverse it," Sans explains, and telling his account of the story thus far. Both humans listened as best they could.

Sans, after revealing his end of the tale, goes behind the counter for a bottle of maple syrup. Grillby wouldn't mind, after all, who knows what any other monsters are thinking, if they can think at all in their condition. Sans picks up the maple syrup bottle, and finds a page underneath. Picking it up curiously, he takes it back over to the other end of the table and begins to skim it while drinking the syrup.

 _Entry 52:_

 _I've found an interesting topic. It's a little hazy, but for this entry of this new field of soul research, I should just state the basics I know so far. The topic in question is about an object I like to call a 'TimeKeep'. A small clock with extraordinary SOUL power. Power enough to travel through time and visit alternate realities to you liking. Twelve timekeeps allow a monster to rule over time itself and destroy the existence of those who are not fitting of the time they rule._

 _Though, creating a timekeep is risky, dangerous and a terrible act of genocide. For every one timekeep is made of all of the monsters of a specific timeline. Their souls meld and dust shape into a timekeep. This is all the info I can gather from my research thus far. The following entries shall be known as the Timekeep Journal, and my research on timekeeps shall be kept a secret. Who knows what would happen if this information fell into the wrong hands?_

Sans looks over the page a minute, and catches a footnote at the bottom of the entry. It's a lot less legible than the previous entry.

 _Final Entry:_

 _It keeps getting darker, all I can hear is static. They're all gone, I don't know what to do! This timeline is slowly getting destroyed by a….I don't even know what it is! This information can't fall into it's hands. I'm going to scatter these notes across time and space. I can't let that…blue stringed, timeline destroying abomination find these. I'm approaching the core now. I'm so sorry, boys… To who ever reads this beware of Er….ans….!_

 _Sans looked over the page again, processing what e had just read. "Well, guys. It looks like we have our work cut out for us…We need to find the other entries of this research if we want answers to our predicament," The skeleton stated. Frisk and Chara look to each other and nod. "Alright. Lets find a way to fix this. and, while we're at it, we'll find the guy who did this and give them a bad time."_


	4. Going Times and Places

_**Going Times and Places**_

After finding a suitable place to keep the journal page, the true struggle to fix this began.

"How do you work this time travel thing?" Chara asked. Sans shrugged. "You don't know? How are we supposed to get anywhere if you don't know how to use it?!" the fallen human asked. "I dunno," Sans answered. "We're doomed. Everyone in the underground is going to be a clock forever, we're doomed," Chara mumbled. "Heya, no need to give up hope yet, kiddo. We haven't tried everything yet," Sans explained. Frisk was over messing around with some things to see if they could get a reaction.

They were currently in the room behind the skelebros' house, and trying to get the timekeep to actually allow them to jump timelines. It wasn't going too well, obviously. Sans looked at the odd clock again, and decided to mess with the hands of it until he could find a working solution. Little did the skeleton know, he was actually twisting a set of coordinates into the clock, Temporal Coordinates. When he was done messing with the clock hands, a large door in a clock like shape appeared on the wall, as the timekeep reverted back to its original time of 12:15. "Hey…I think I'm on to something!" the skeleton called, as Frisk turned around and Chara looked up from her mumblings about how the underground was doomed.

"What…is that?" Chara asked. Frisk wore the same confused expression, showing they meant to ask the same question. Sans looked at it a minute, before grabbing the handle on the rim of the clock door. The skeleton slowly opened it to reveal a dark screen behind the door. That ruled it out as being a door to outside the back room. There was a single green patch on a grey, illuminated floor, and writing on the wall above.

Continue. Reset.

Frisk and Chara instantly recognised it. "The start menu? But we haven't quit the game since this happened," Chara stated. "Maybe it's not our start menu?" Frisk questioned. "Do you think we finally reached an alternate timeline?" Chara asked Sans. "That's a likely possibility…hey, look!" Sans shouted. Right behind the reset button was one flapping piece of paper. It had the same look and dustiness of the first Timekeep Journal page. It was slightly burned, torn around the edges and very old looking with the dust on it. "One thing's for sure, kiddos. We need that piece of paper. Let's go," Sans declared.

The three interlopers walked to the start menu in front of them. "We'd better be careful, wouldn't want to accidentally hit that reset button," Chara commented. Frisk and Sans nodded. "It's pretty high up. How do we reach it?" Frisk asked. "Well, we could try climbing on each other's shoulders in a sort of ladder formation…" Sans suggested. Soon after that, Frisk was on the skeleton's shoulders helping Chara on to theirs. Chara was already reaching for the next journal piece after that. "This is going to be easy," the green sweater wearing human chuckled. That's how it would've gone, if there wasn't the sound of a charging Gaster Blaster right by Chara's ear.

"Get me down from here!" Chara panicked as the tower started to wobble. The three fell over just as the blaster fired right at Chara. "You ok, kid?" Sans asked. Chara nodded. "I didn't get the page, though…" Chara mumbled. The moment of peace didn't last too long, however, as more blasters and bones were being thrown at the threesome's general direction. "Get down!" Sans called. They barely managed to avoid the attacks. "Alright, who's the wise guy?!" Chara called to where the attack was coming from. Across the way was another Sans. They definitely looked angry, and were white as dust in their appearance, beside the red scarf around their neck and the ketchup stained scar across the middle section. There was some sort of glitchy cloud over one of the skeleton's eyes, and the other was glowing.

"The way he has that scarf on is giving me a lot of 'This is a really bad situation' feelings," Sans commented. "So, basically, we're gonna have a bad time?" Chara half-joked. Sans nodded. The other Sans charged another attack. The angry expression he was wearing didn't falter at the half-joke. "Well, at least we know your timeline-jumping clock thing works," Chara mumbled before dodging again. "Dirty brother killer…" The other Sans mumbled.

Frisk to the rescue! The young human jumped behind the white skeleton and gave him a big hug. "Come one, other Sans. Why don't we talk it out!" the blue sweatered human cheered. The other Sans mumbled and pushed Frisk off with his telekinetic powers. "Aw… don't be so 'bad to the bone', Sans!" Frisk joked. Sans turned around. "What, are you seriously making puns in the middle of a fight?" the white Sans asked. "Aw, don't give Frisk the 'Bone Cold' shoulder, would you?" Chara punned back. They then recoiled. "That was so terrible," the human hissed. "Wow, you already learning the fundamentals of being a good kid, kiddo," The Sans from Frisk and Chara's timeline joked. Chara groaned and fell backwards.

"You actually believe that dirty brother killer can be a good person?!" the other Sans barked angrily. "Come one, how can you say know to that expression," The Sans from- "You know what, let's just call him Keeper, alright? This is getting annoying. Our Sans is Keeper, the other is Geno, moving on!" Chara yells at the writer of the story. Rude by the way, Chara. "I don't get it, it's just a stupid murder," Geno growls. "Your judgment must be clouded, buddy," Keeper states. "When I look at Chara's face…I see the face of someone who is honestly trying to be a good person despite their past mistakes," The taller skeleton surmised. Yes, Keeper is like, a foot taller than Geno. The white skeleton gave the other an annoyed and confused look.

"Actually look at Chara, see what they truly want. Please pal, we're not here on any ill intent," Keeper told Geno. Geno stared a minute at Chara. "You know what, you're right. Come here kid, I'm sorry," Geno stated, opening his arms for Chara to hug. Geno is sparing Chara. The fallen human ran forward to accept the hug. "kid, wait!" Keeper called. "That expression…no, he's gonna…I can't lose them! I made a promise!" Keeper thought panicked. There was little room for action, Chara was going to fast to stop in time, Geno's grin grew a little wider as the young human approached. "Get out of there, kid!" Keeper called, his eye began to glow, and he had to get Chara away from Geno. "Come here, pal," The white skeleton said to Chara with venom in his voice. "KID!" Keeper wailed, acting on impulse. A Blaster fired.

.

…

…..

…

Silence.

Sharp bones had sprouted in front of Geno, in an attempt to dunk Chara.

Keeper and Frisk were wide eyed with panic.

The blaster fired look exactly like Papyrus, if he was to look like a blaster.

Blue magic was calming from this supposed "Papyrublaster's" mouth area.

Keeper lowered his hand and the Papyrublaster disappeared.

Both Keeper and Frisk were worried about Chara's fate.

Did Chara get dunked? Did the blaster push the child out of the way in time? Did…Keeper kill Chara in that crazy attempt to save them? The area was quiet. Eerily and uncomfortably quiet. Stumbling. A yellow scarf flashed in the light of the one ray of the Star Menu. Chara walked forward. A bit rouged up, with some blue magic burns, but alive as they could be, and their soul was intact. They gave Keeper a big, honest and grateful smile, before lifting their hand to reveal the page that was caught by the reset button. "Chara!" Frisk called, running to their friend. They embraced each other and stood there hugging for a good while before Keeper walked up. "You had me dead worried there, kid," Keeper huffed with relief. The skeleton joined the hug. "You…saved me. Even after all I did in the previous timeline, and the reason this other Sans is so angry with me…and you still saved me, why?" Chara couldn't help but ask.

Keeper smiled. It was a genuine, happy smile. There was kindness and trust in the skeleton's eye sockets. "Well, there's this door in Snowdin Forest, and there was a certain, polite old lady behind it I made a certain promise to, kid. And, I've decided I can trust you," Keeper explained. Chara looked up with tears in their eyes. "You…trust me?" the human asked. The blue skeleton nodded. "Heya, don't cry, kid. It should be raining somewhere else, not here, you know," Keeper told Chara. The human wiped the tears from their eyes. "Thanks, Sans…" Chara told Keeper. The blue skeleton faced Geno. "Let this be a lesson to you, bud. I know you think you've exhausted all your second chances with humans, but there are some generally good ones out there. Plus, I'd take a second look at your expression reading, because you've been clearly blinded by rage. Revenge isn't something you should follow all too often, k? It only leads to more innocent people hurt," Keeper told the ketchup scarred skeleton, who only stared. The expression was almost unreadable. Confusion, anger….slight curiousity. It was a mix on the skeleton's face, and the static over the one eye didn't help too much either.

"If we ever meet again, pal…let it be on good terms, ok?" Keeper asked. "Now, let's go home and read that journal page…" The blue wearing skeleton sighed, heading back to the open clock door that led them back to their original timeline. "How about I treat you all to some 'cakes as well… you deserve it."

Returning was simple, and after the clock door closed, it vanished. Keeper was preparing pancakes for Frisk and Chara. "So, how did you manage to get that journal piece, kid?" Keeper asked. "When you blasted me out of the way of getting 'Dunked On', I flew by the reset button from the impact. With some quick thinking, I managed to knock the page out from behind it, and pick it up off the ground after it floated down. I owed you that much for saving my soul so soon after I got it back," Chara explained. Keeper walked into the living room holding three stacks of pancakes. Chara's had chocolate chips in them. The young human's face lit up at the sight of them. "Alright, let's see this new entry," Keeper stated, taking the page from Chara and reading aloud:

 _Entry 53:_

 _The timekeeps have amazing power! Merely having one on a monster's personage increases that monster's capabilities one thousand-fold! But, there are also limitations to this power. There are only twelve timelines in the infinite multiverse that can be used to create timekeeps. I will have to delve further into their temporal coordinates, because the only coordinates I can access as of late are Omega-67 and Theta-45. Funnily enough, the coordinates of my timeline are Beta-32. Interesting._

 _These coordinates can be entered and take you to another timeline by twisting the hour and minute hands in a certain way. The hour hand is for the numerals, the minute hand is for the regular numbers, and it operates like a combination lock. The timekeep always reverts back to the coordinates of the timeline it came from. This will take more research another time._

Keeper looked at the coordinates of his timekeep. It wasn't stuck at 12:15. It was showing the coordinates of his timeline. Omega-dash-sixty seven. It would be good to keep this in mind for later adventures, and now that Keeper knew how to use the timekeep, things would be a lot easier. But there was one more problem. The multiverse was infinite, so it would take a lot of searching. That would be the case, except…

"Hey, there's some coordinates on the back of the page," Frisk pointed out. **Kappa-08**. Could it be a clue to the next place to look? But, it was late now, and everyone needed a bit of rest after that endeavour. With the pancakes all eaten, Keeper escorted Frisk and Chara to his room, where he set up two extra beds and actually made his own for once. If he was going to kick the lazy habit, it was a place to start. "We'll head back out again tomorrow, kiddos. It's late and we need some sleep," Keeper sighed. Frisk and Chara agreed with the skeleton and got into their new beds. There was also an arrangement in place regarding that Chara's knife be left on a target board downstairs so no accidents involving rolling over onto it and stabbing one's self with it does not happen.

Keeper turned off the lights in the house. " 'Night, kiddos. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

And then it was silent for the end of the day.


	5. The More Timekeep Journals, The Merrier

The More Timekeep Journals, the Merrier.

Keeper spent the next morning deciphering how to use Temporal Coordinates. This was some pretty complicated stuff, and the less messing with the Time-Space Continuum, the better. The skeleton didn't even know if getting the journal pages was going to save his friends, but if he wanted to get anywhere, he'd have to know as much as he could, mainly, if it was possible to reverse the effects that made the timekeep.

Frisk and Chara were already having breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, and they seemed pretty content. Especially Chara, who was practically wolfing down the choco-chip 'cakes like nobody's business. Frisk took their time with eating their pancakes, slightly amused with Chara's chocolate obsession. Keeper hadn't come to eat with them yet, which was a bummer, but they could understand why he was so troubled, due to the incident yesterday, and Papyrublaster.

At least Keeper knew they were dead. At least he knew they weren't suffering in that terrible genocide run. But now…in light of how a blaster that appeared to look just like Papyrus appeared as Keeper's attack, how could he know? Were they alive? Were they suffering? It's dangerous for SOULs to be fused together in close proximity. If anything, Alphys proved that with the Amalgamates. He couldn't bear to think of what they might be feeling, if they can feel anything… He put a hand over the clock around his neck and felt a magic tear flow down his cheekbone. He wanted to see Papyrus again, he wanted to hear Papyrus shouting demands in his direction…. He wanted to knock on the door to the ruins, and hear a kind old lady ask "Who is there?". He wanted to laze about outside his station while Undyne ran after Frisk for the two-thousandth timeline. He wanted to help encourage Alphys to help her cope with what she's done. He wanted to wait in the judgement hall, under Asgore's command, loyal and true his position and his promise.

His promise….

His promise to a kind old lady waiting at the other side of a door, asking him to protect any humans that walk through the door. It was really the only thing he had left. The two kids downstairs eating breakfast and watching pre-recorded episodes of Mettaton's shows in front of the T.V. It was really the only thing he had, beside the timekeep. Those two kids…he vowed to protect them with everything he had, it was a part of his promise. Keeper was never one for promises. He just found them to be a cheap way of getting someone to do what someone else wants. But…this feeling of responsibility he had for Frisk and Chara…he couldn't deny keeping that promise, for their sake. The sake of the last two people in the entire timeline.

Keeper was full on crying now, curled up in hi bed, sobbing and whimpering. The two young humans had heard the skeletons whimpers over the T.V, and had come up to comfort him. They started hugging him, and Keeper wrapped his arms around them both, embracing them as his crying slowly turned to whimpers, and finally, silence. Keeper thanked them, and slowly recovered from his sadness.

"Thanks guys…I feel a lot better now." Chara grinned. "It's only us three, and we need to stick together. We don't need anyone crying their eyes about what happened, we need to work towards fixing it," Chara told Keeper. Frisk nodded in agreement. "How about you take a load off and eat some breakfast with us?" The pink-scarfed human asked. Keeper nodded in agreement. "Good idea, kiddo."

After all was said and done, Keeper went back to figuring out how TC's (Temporal Coordinates) work. It was complicated, but eventually, Keeper had the hang of them. It was time to start really exploring the multiverse. Though Frisk couldn't help but pipe up and ask… "What about this Er…Ans…? What if whoever or whatever it is becomes a problem later?" Frisk asks. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but I'll 'keeper' an eyesocket out for it." Keeper responded. "Now, we have our work cut out for us, and the sooner we start, the better."

The first timeline they went to after that point was one playfully named "Underfell". Needless to say, there were some close scrapes with some very unwelcoming residents in the timeline. The trio had to run and hide in a safe place where they wouldn't be spotted. When they found one, there were already two people there. Another Frisk, and Flowey, who both looked startled when they arrived. But, some sweet talking from KT Frisk was enough to settle them down.

"So… can I ask you two something?" KT Frisk questioned. The other Frisk and Flowey nodded. KT Frisk took a page of the journal. "Have you seen anything like this around?" The other Frisk nodded. "I think there was one in the bushes outside the Ruins door." Flowey told KT Frisk. "Well, I guess that's where we go next," Keeper concluded, and sure enough, the journal page was in the bush with the hidden camera. "Thanks, pals," Keeper thanked the other Frisk and Flowey. And they departed Underfell and rested for the rest of that day.

 _Entry #54:_

 _A new revelation has become apparent in the creation of timekeeps. There must be one monster soul left over in order for the operation to work, and you must choose the left over monster wisely, or there may be some resistance against timekeep creation. You can only pick one version of a monster per timeline, so no whimsims running around for no reason on that part. Another variant is the strength of the chosen monster's soul. The timekeep's holding points are the exact concentrations of Determination a monster has. A reasonable strong soul must be left out so the clock doesn't melt into an unholy abomination of souls due to the over-excessive Determination overload the souls and dust would be subjected to. It may be just the weak monster determination variant, but it's still enough to melt the combination of weak souls with too much determination present in the mixture._

 _The nature of the souls when in a timekeep's stasis limbo is still unknown._

*The journal has the TCs **Alpha-22** on the back.

Another day, another timeline. After being fed and prepared for the next timeline, Keeper locked the coordinates Alpha-22 into his Timekeep. The large door to the timeline appeared again, and the three entered. On the other side was a lab, that looked like Alphys' True Lab. Though, there were no Amalgamates, or Alphys herself running around. There were plenty of entries around the lab, written in a similar fasion to the timekeep journals, though the font was different. The Timekeep Journals were in a clear Aster font; the entries here were in Wing Dings. "My Wingding reading has kinda deteriorated over the last while, so it's kind of hard to understand these…" Keeper mused, putting a hand to his skull. "So far, none of these are Timekeep Journal entries…"

"Who is trespassing in here!? This area is completely classified!" A voice rang out. "We've got company…" Chara commented. Fast footsteps were racing down the hall at them. "Nothing a good shortcut can't fix. Over here!" Keeper told the other members of his trio. Frisk and Chara rushed to the skeleton's side and followed him around the corner, and when it looked like a dead end, Keeper teleported Frisk, Chara and himself to the opposite end of the True Lab. "We need to find that journal page, now!" Chara assured.

It was like a game of cat and mouse around the True Lab.

Meanwhile… "WHAT DO YOU THINK ALL THAT NOISE IS, BROTHER?" A version of Papyrus asked, he had a large amount of bandages around his head. "i don't know, maybe he's chasing something that got in here he wants out." Sans commented, facing his brother. While his back is turned, Keeper, Frisk and Chara ran past their containment cell, while a very upset and worried Gaster gives chase after them.

Keeper was beginning to look very exhausted. "Is there any *huff*… Sign of the…*huff* Timekeep journal yet?" the skeleton heaved through hard breaths. "There!" Frisk called. It was on top of a pile on Gaster's desk. "Go get the page, we'll distract him!" Chara called. Keeper split off from his partners. They ran off with Gaster following as Keeper grabbed the page off Gaster's desk. The skeleton signaled for his partners to come back around. He began twisting the clock hands of his timekeep , inputting his home timeline's coordinates. He let Frisk and Chara in first and ran in after, shutting the large, clock-shaped door in Gaster's face. Then the door vanished as if it was never there in the first place.

The three individuals returned to timeline Omega-67 exhausted. Keeper's ribcage was heaving with heavy breaths, Frisk was covered in sweat, and Chara's legs caved the moment the door vanished. The three stumbled into Keeper's room and crashed on their respective beds. "We're gonna take the day off, tomorrow…" Keeper huffed. Frisk and Chara gave moans of agreement. They were all going to feel all of that running tomorrow morning.

 _Timekeep Journal, Entry 55:_

 _The king is becoming concerned as to why I haven't updated him in my research. I've decided to make fake entries. Not even his highness can know about the complexities of the multiverse I am studying to this day._

 _In any case, I have found a breakthrough. The sketch below is what I would like to call, the Temporal Core._

 _*There's a sketch of a large structure, with many lines jutting out from the top*_

 _These next few true entries will be on the Temporal Core Theory. The theory that all the energy from the multiverse, and in different timelines, comes from a central core, surrounded by void and anti-void energies. This is just a base structure for the Temporal Core._


	6. Don't Give Up

DON'T GIVE UP

After their time off, the Timeline Travel Trio continued their quest. There were many different Alternate Universes out there. There was one where Sans was the embodiment of death itself, one where the crew was a set of pirates, one where everyone's rolls in their timeline was shifted around, one where the skeleton brothers looked a lot more like the mysterious person who caused this than they should…and yet, when asked about the figure of red and gold, or the Timekeep Journal, everyone would draw a blank.

They would talk about someone named "W.D Gaster", but would never go into detail or they would strait out state he would never be caught dead in red and yellow. As for the journal pages, those keeping hold on them would say how they just came out of nowhere. It wasn't giving the trio any lead, which was for sure. They gathered and read through the journal, and yet…the effects of the timekeep seemed to be irreversible. Keeper looked crushed. He hung his skull, and as Frisk and Chara tried to cheer him up, it was clear that same depressed look from before all of this returned, plastered smile and all. Not even a good joke would work.

That night, Keeper didn't even bother making his bed. He was slowly crawling back to his nihilistic state of mind, slowing down, growing lazy again, cracking bad jokes only to hide his depression, but Frisk and Chara knew he was upset and depressed. Who wouldn't be, knowing your entire species is stuck like an inanimate object for the rest of forever. They themselves were losing their spark to this new idea. It was a terrible and depressing day indeed. Everyone went to sleep that night, a restless one where the thick atmosphere could be cut with a knife. The trio was losing hope.

That night Keeper had a dream, a dream born from the desperation of souls begging him not to give up. In the dream, Keeper was in the center of a dark room. Light began to appear in the room, as each light turned into his friends. Papyrus, his brother, spoke first.

 _SANS! THE SITUATION MAY LOOK ROUGH, BROTHER, BUT I BELIEVE IN YOU! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT YOU IN PERSON, BUT KNOW THAT WE WILL ALWAYS STAY CLOSE TO YOUR SIDE. AFTER ALL, ISN'T IT SITUATIONS THIS HOPELESS YOU EXEL AT THE MOST?_

The illusion of Papyrus stared Keeper in the face as it spoke, a determined yet kind look, a look of someone who wasn't ready to give up yet. A second illusion made itself present, and Undyne spoke next.

 _Come on, you lazy dork! I know you're not done yet! After all you've done up to this point, you can't just quit. Don't you feel it? Right now, everyone in the entire multiverse, their hearts are beating as one! We all have one goal, Sans. You can't quit with the entire multiverse riding on your actions!_

The powerful illusion spoke in a way that was very much like the royal guard Keeper knew. A burning feeling he couldn't describe started to build in his chest. Alphys appeared next to Undyne, it was her turn to speak.

 _I know it's c-completely impossible f-for us to come back, a-a-and that we may never see each other again after this, but, w-we can't just st-stand by and watch our world and c-countless other people's l-lives crumble in front of us. We have t-t-to keep going, no matter how hopeless it seems!_

Alphys had more confidence in her eyes than Keeper had ever seen. The royal scientist, while still stuttering, said her part the way it needed to get across. Keeper stared at the lizard a short while, until another figure appeared behind him. It was Toriel, and a stern, yet caring look was in her eyes.

 _Sans. We may not have known each other in person for long, but I do know that it is not only you at risk when it comes to this situation. Even if you cannot act on your own will due to the severity of hopelessness in this issue, please, please, promise me you will try your hardest, not just for your sake, but for the sake of those who support you, your friends, your family…your partners._

Toriel kept a calm and direct tone in her voice. She seemed to look through Keeper, and her words hit like fire. There was more than just himself stuck in this situation. It began to dawn on Keeper, that even after all this chaos, his friends and family were still alive. They were still close, and they had supported him all this time. How could he have been so blind to their embrace…?

Flowey appeared out of the ground, a different look on the flower's face than normal.

 _I never liked you, smiley trashbag. I still don't like you now….but, you've shown real and genuine care and trust to my best friend. You've given them a light in a world no other stupid smiley trashbag would accept them. Look… what I'm trying to say, is that Frisk and Chara need you more than ever. After they worked so hard to watch it all shatter in front of them when this big clock mess happened, you were the only one there to help them through it, and they still need help through it. Don't be an even bigger trashbag just giving up on them like that, ok?_

Finally, Asgore appeared, the stern yet kind and gentle look on his face as well. He only said little, but it was finally enough to fully awaken Keeper to what his true purpose was.

 _Sans the skeleton… for the future of all those who exist in the multiverse…_ _ **You have to stay determined!**_

After the forms of light had all spoken their part, they each took a different shape. They took the forms of different blasters. Keeper recognized the form of Papyrublaster, slowly being followed by Undyneblaster, Alphyblaster, Toriblaster, Floweyblaster and Asgoreblaster. They all shot their magic attacks in the sky, creating a firework show, and the resonate echos of the aftermath stuck in Keeper's head. It sounded like one hundred, maybe even more voices all chanting the sane thing.

 _Don't give up._

Keeper reawakened, invigorated by his dream. The image of his friends and family supporting him stuck in the back of his head. They were nowhere near done yet. It wasn't the end. With his newfound spark of determination, Keeper awaked his partners. There was still one last threat out there. The one who sent this all into motion had to be stopped, one way or another, and the back of the last Timekeep Journal page gave temporal coordinates to his last location. They were a bit awkward and jumbled, but based on what Keeper knew, there was only three places with coordinates so complex. The void, the anti-void, and the theorised location of the Temporal Core, the fine line separated the two voids. After preparation, Keeper began inserting the complex code into the hands of his timekeep, twisting back and forth. This required a lot of precision, even the slightest shift in the wrong direction could send them to the wrong plane.

It was at the last minute a loud crash was heard.

Chara looked around the corner to see a fleeing figure holding two red scythes and wearing what could be known as a darker colored "battle body" with blue streaks. They tried to give chase to the figure, but they were gone as soon as they appeared. They must have caused the crash and fled back to their timeline after the fact. It was unknown why.

"Oh well, guess I can just try again…" Keeper muttered.

Suddenly, the door from the messed-up coordinates swung open unexpectedly. On the other side was a deathly quiet field of white. It was almost empty, save for the figure standing on the other side of the door, as well as the mass of blue strings on the roof, holding many human souls and puppets. In fact, the door seemed to be forced open by a similar set of blue strings coming down the center figure's face and wrapped around their hands. The figure themselves was a black contrast against the white space around him, and many ERROR messages seemed to flash around him. He glared at Keeper and his two partners, and spoke in a distorted tone, one word before dragging all three into the anti-void with him using his odd strings.

" **heya…"**

Meanwhile….

A character in similar fashion to Error Sans finishes exiting a clock door. They have noticeable differences in comparison to the other error skeleton, but it was clear they had the same origin. These differences included their constantly somber look, the bright blue behind their eyes and running down their bones, the seemingly armored outfit they were wearing and the two red streaks in their eyes, seemingly running down their arms, forming the shape of the two red, star tipped scythes the figure was holding. The ERROR signs also flashed in different places compared to the skeleton, most noticeably in their eye socket and on their shoulder. The figure stared at a second in the room, who was staring at a large monitor.

"I see you've returned, Blueberry. Was your mission successful?" The second figure asked. The first nodded. "Yeah. Error just dragged them into the anti-void a minute ago," Blueberry replied, looking at the figure hopefully. "Excellent work, Blueberry. Everything is going according to plan. I may need your help when they all get here." The first figure replied, tapping on the monitor's keyboard. Blueberry Error nodded. "Just as long as we're one step closer to helping Error. Thank you for all of your help, Timekeep Gaster, I could've never gotten this far and this knowledgeable about the multiverse without you"! Timekeep Gaster nodded, patting Blueberry Error on the head. "Of course. Now, why don't you go and play with the other Sanses and Papyruses wating for you downstairs. I bet that Underswap Papyrus is still waiting for your return…" The tall, red and gold wearing figure responded. Blueberry Error exited the room after that, a smile on his permanently somber-looking face. After they exited, Timekeep Gaster turned and faced the monitor once more. It was showing the fight currently going on in the Anti-void. He smirked and gave a dark chuckle. "Yeah….help Error….help put him out of his misery…" Timekeep Gaster hissed, resentment flashing in his eyes before his grin widened.

The time had come for his revenge.

((KEEPERTALE IS COMPLETELY NON-CANNON TO ERRORTALE UNLESS THE ALMIGHTY CRAYON QUEEN SAYS OTHERWISE. (Blueberry is a full error who got kicked out of the anti-void when Error Sans didn't recognise him after being gone so dang long!))


	7. Through The Temporal Core

ONWARD, THROUGH THE TEMPORAL CORE!

Back in the anti-void, a large fight was going on. Strings, bones and blasters were being flung everywhere as the two sides faced off against each other. **"You're coding is faulty….just another set of glitches to erase…"** Error huffed. He was clearly enjoying the violence. Blasters fired again as beams of energy clashed against each other. Every set of strings Error threw were immediately slashed apart by Chara's LV20 Knife. Even if using his strings was near useless in this type of fight, Error was still incredibly tough. The fight echoed in the emptiness for a while before Error started to look tired. **"Though I do have to know…how did you even get in here? Filthy glitches like you don't reach this place easily,"** The dark skeleton questioned in between attacks. Keeper shrugged. "If a place exists, it has Temporal Coordinates. The way to this place just takes a lot of input," the blue skeleton answered. "We didn't even mean to come here," he finished.

Error was starting to look exhausted now. He took another lunge at Keeper, before a separate clock door, that Keeper didn't create, opened. A golden tendril shot out of it and wrapped itself around Error's leg bones. The skeleton's eyes widened with surprize and shock as lines of bright red coding shot up the tendril and into Error's body. Error suddenly stiffened to a point where he couldn't move. The tendril released his leg and procced to scoop the entire dark skeleton up. It was evident that Error was struggling to move and free himself from the intruding object. The gold tendril began to drag Error back through the door it came out of, move red lines of code shooting up it into Error. The tendril pulled through the door portal to another alternate plane, Error Sans in two, as Keeper, Frisk and Chara made chase, entering the door before it slammed shut and vanished.

The other side of the door lead to a move technological place on some sort of cliff side. A reddish metal tower with many blue lines streaking from the top stood in front of the Timeline Travel Trio. Over the sides of the cliffs was some sort of infinite blue energy, and the tower in front seemed to be siphoning it up to the blue lines as some sort of energy source to keep them running. Each blue line seemed to branch of in many different ways and travel infinitely in all directions. The large metal door slammed shut as the tendril pulled Error through it. "Where are we…?" Frisk asked. Keeper gave the tower a good look up and down. "If I were to guess, I'd have to say the _Temporal Core_ ," Keeper concluded.

Checking the TCs, Keeper also managed to conclude that this was the place they were intending to go anyways. This is the place where the one who caused all of this dwelled and chasing down Error seemed to be the way to find him. Besides, leaving Error unsupervised in a place where all of the timelines get their energy would be a very bad idea. The long trek into the tower began as the door opened to let the threesome in, only to slam shut once more.

…..

Meanwhile once more, the gold tendril that kidnapped Error finally reached its destination, the top of the Temporal Core, where Timekeep Gaster was waiting. A sick grin was on his face, as the tendril detached from the lower half of his gooey body, and stuck itself in the ground, solidifying as a sort of holding place for its paralyzed captive. The code lines stopped running up the tendril, as Error was already only mobile enough to only more his eyes and speak….just like Timekeep Gaster planned. His grin grew impossibly wider. "Get comfortable, you're going to be here for the rest of your life… which isn't going to be much longer…" he hissed. Error attempted to grimace despite his trapped condition. **"You can't kill me…I've still got work to do, erasing all of the glitches in the multiverse, including you when I get out of here…"** he growled. Timekeep Gaster's grin faded as he looked down, a dark shadow cast over his eyes. "Erasing the glitches in the multiverse," the red puddle of skeleton echoed. "Heh, you are even more of a naive fool than I thought. Don't you get it…?" Timekeep Gaster growled. "I'm erasing the _real_ dirty glitches in the multiverse". Error shot TKG the most confused look he could muster **. "The real glitches…? What's worse than an awful crowded multiverse?"** The paralyzed Error questioned. Timekeep Gaster's grin returned. "Why….creatures like you of course. Don't tell me you didn't realise. You don't have a universe of your own. You are the real anomaly, the real glitch, the true error in this multiverse. I'm going to take out the real trash, the time anomalies that have shaken the foundation of the multiverse, causing it to become….imperfect," The gold slime skeleton explained. Error's eyes widened as much as they could. **"But…why? Why me specifically?"** inquired Error.

TKG's grin faded again. "Why am I doing this…? A silly question, but reasonable for scum like you. After you left me alone, left me to rot, left me to die in the vastness and darkness, in a space that has no time, a new resolution had begun to build inside of me. It was you who tore away everything I loved, casting it into darkness, and you grinned, and you laughed at the pain you caused, thinking you had destroyed me with the rest of my timeline, but I survived. I had awoken here, in the temporal core, the timeless space that governs all of time, and I watched, and waited for your every move.

You see, I know your type, Error. It is creature's like you, creatures with power, who think you can do whatever you want in the multiverse and get away without consequences that disgust me the most. The way you treat the lives of those beneath you like ants in an anthill, destroying their homes and laughing at their pain like it's all one big game….Have you ever once considered what they may be thinking as you tear their world apart. You weren't all that considerate of you one captive, Blueberry, while he was still with you…" TKG elaborates. Error perks up when Blueberry is mentioned. **"You…. you know about Blueberry?! Where is he, what happened to him?!"** He growled. Timekeep Gaster grins impossibly wide. "Safe….for now. Though, you wouldn't really like the effects of what you did to him, how they've twisted his innocent little mind and created an abomination in his place. _You left him to die,_ after all," hissed the red skeleton. "As if you cared about him in the first place…" TKG huffed sarcastically.

The slimy gold and red skeleton turns to look at the monitor at the other side while Error stares wide-eyed at nothing in particular. Keeper is shown with his friends ascending the floors of the Temporal Core's tall tower. "The fool has taken the bait. When I get the final Timekeep from him, even if I have to tear it off his cold, dusted corpse! ….I will be the one in charge. Not you, or any other filthy anomilies in the time-space continuum….me. I will fix this multiverse and make it perfect, and no one will ever feel this pain again….The time has come," TKG announced. He pressed a button, and Blueberry Error entered once again, looking chipper as possible with his solemn looking eye sockets. Error looked at the second dark skeleton in disbelief. "Blueberry, I have a special job for you…." Timekeep Gaster told his second in command.

….

The Timeline Travel Trio finally reached the top of the tower, which was littered in gold tendrils, similar to the ones that captured Error, yet more solid and permanent. Along the way, many more alternate versions of old friends were found in the tower, living there. All of them had the exact same reason for being there when asked. A dark version of Sans had come to their timelines and erased them, the Temporal Core being the only place to flee to when a tall skeleton with gold cracks in his skull had saved them from certain death. Keeper was certain after hearing the same story from the fiftieth resident, that this was no mere act of good will. Timekeep Gaster was building an army, using the common view of hatred toward creatures like Error as a base for his dark plan. The multiverse was in worse danger than the trio originally thought. It was time to put an end to it.

At the end of the hall, was the same error skeleton that caused the ruckus that threw off the temporal coordinates. He seemed to be guarding the door, and had a confident form about him, but is solemn eye sockets said otherwise. He noticed the trio approaching and blocked their path. _"MWEH! You are trespassing, and I cannot allow you to go any further!"_ huffed the skeletal error proudly. His voice was distorted and cut off at points, due to how screwy his code was. "Look pal, we don't want any trouble, so if you could just move out of the way…" Keeper began, but a blue bone with red lining was thrown in his direction instead. _"Mweh…heh….I told you I can't allow you to go any further…."_ Blueberry chimed, before a battle began.

Blueberry Error summoned two large, red scythes as weapons in the fight, charging in an attempt to hit one of the members of the trio. Keeper successfully dodged, and Chara managed to counterattack the blow, but poor Frisk got caught in the crossfire, leaving three damage. A side effect of the scythe was that it paralyzed any opponent it touched. Frisk was left immobilized for a few turns, but Keeper and Chara did a good job protecting them from more attacks in the meantime. The trio never fought back to hard, small counterattacks here and there, but most of the fight was attempting to negotiate with Blueberry, who was convinced they were helping Error. After enough poking and prodding, Blueberry slowly started to calm down. The attacks slowly came into slower succession as the skeletal error slowly surrendered. The scythes disappeared as Blueberry let out a sigh.

" _Is he really actually trying to hurt Error? How did he fool me for so long? Why does he keep me around…?"_ Blueberry asked, a bit of pep lost in his step. "I dunno, pal. But whatever the case, ya gotta let us pass into the next room, so we can stop his master plan," Keeper explained. Suddenly, Timekeep Gaster's voice came up on the intercom. "I don't think so. You are hereby denied access to the room in front of you, and will be eliminated unless you surrender your Timekeep immediately," The melted skeleton hissed. Keeper only glared in the direction of the intercom. "Suit yourself," Gaster chuckled. One of the suspended tentacles in the room snapped off the roof and leaked its way behind Blueberry, where it proceeded to crawl up and wrap around his spine, sticking its 'head' out behind the error skeleton's shoulders. Black lines of code leaked up the tendril and into Blueberry.

All at once, the skeleton's demeanor changed very drastically. Blueberry hunched over, their solemn sockets changing their default shape into a menacing glare, and Blue's smile faded. He spoke not a word, as he brought out the red scythes again, making them tear through all three member's MERCY option, destroying it. Another fight engaged. The trio didn't know what to do, as Blueberry was more relentless than ever before. Frisk's attention was caught in the tendril leading up Blueberry's back. Maybe, if they could just destroy that…. Frisk's train of thought was interrupted by the blast from a starry-eyed Error Gaster Blaster. Frisk revealed a plan to the other members in between attacks, attack the tendril controlling Blueberry. A solid attack plan was formed then, as all attacks were directed towards the golden tendril. Eventually, after enough hits, the tendril dissolved into a puddle of goo that evaporated. Blueberry Error returned to normal, the angered eye sockets returning to their solemn state. Blueberry thanked the trio for their help, and was ready to cheer them on in the final battle.

The final battle looms….You are filled with Determination.

.

..

…

….

…..

….

…

…..

…

….

The door to the main lab shuts after the trio enters. Timekeep Gaster has his back to them, staring at the monitor. Error is being held closer to the roof by the tendril that kidnapped him, not going anywhere any time soon, due to the paralysis code traveling up the tendril. Timekeep Gaster lets out a small sigh. "I see you've finally made it. You've come a long way since your universe, and have failed to comply by surrendering me your timekeep," hissed the figure. Keeper glared. "Why would I ever let you take my family and friends away so you can use them for your dark schemes," he retorted. "Very well then, you seem dead set on keeping it to yourself. It appears in a situation like this, I'll have to take it by force….Even if it means I have to tear it off your cold, dusted corpse!" exclaimed Timekeep Gaster, who immediately whipped up a storm of gold tendrils, summoning bones and Temporal Blasters to attack with.

Keeper jumped out of the way of an incoming tendril, summoning Undyneblaster to counterattack the oncoming temporal blasts with a spear-shaped blast of her own. "Yeah, eat it punks!" Undyneblaster exclaimed. Chara began deflecting bones with their knife, as Frisk began looking around the room for something to help. TKG summoned another round of blasters to attack, whipping tendrils in Chara's direction. Keeper summoned his own bones to aid the human, while Asgorblaster and Toriblaster used their orange fire blasts to take out the swift moving blasters TKG set up. Chara began to slash their way through tendrils. Surprisingly, no damage was done to TKG. Keeper's attacks definitely came in handy during the fight.

In the meanwhile, Frisk had found something in the office. It was a small picture frame, with a picture of Sans, Papyrus and a third skeleton dressed in red close together. They all seem very happy. The monitor above seemed to still be on, so Frisk began to browse it. The others in the room were all distracted by the big fight currently taking place, so it was the perfect opportunity. There were many records around, destroyed timelines, other statuses, and then something caught Frisk's eye. A file named "Timekeep Journal 2". The fallen human opened the file.

 _Entry 1:_

 _This is Dr. Gaster. After a series of unfortunate events, my entire timeline has been destroyed. Sans and Papyrus are….gone, and the timeline is basically non-existent. Everything they did, everything they were is gone. I can't….do this anymore….it hurts, the pain in their eyes when_ _Error Sans_ _that thing took everything away from them. And it's not the only timeline he's done this to. I just…there's only one solution to this problem… making timekeeps. If I rule all of time, I could make sure this doesn't happen to anyone again. But, that would still mean I would have to….no, that's not important right now, many thousands of universes are in danger here. It's only twelve in return though…right?_

 _Entry 6:_

 _I've secured three timekeeps up to this point. I left behind some very upset monsters, and that one Papyrus looked heartbroken. Is this really the only way? It must be, there is no other solution. The multiverse is thrown out of whack and it's the only way to put it back into shape. I've also managed to save a few residents of timelines that error was destroying. They seem more than ready to help me after witnessing this.  
_

_Entry 10:_

 _There's more than one Error out there. I wasn't too pleased at first, but there was something about this code-scrambled Underswap Sans that was very, very….interesting. I took him under my wing after I found him alone, crying. He was clutching a human soul to his chest, refusing to absorb it. I have the soul hidden in a back room somewhere now. A determined soul, with enough power, can reset a timeline. I may be able to research pure, genuine, human determination with it. I'm already a melted mess, so what is there to lose?_

 _Entry 11:_

 _Must I keep telling those I've rescued to continue lying to Blueberry Error? The little pile of deformed code thinks we're helping Error. Far from it, we're trying to kill him. But we need Blueberry on our side._

 _Entry 20:_

 _A bit of a complication occurred when I attempted to get the last timekeep today. I've been reluctant to leave a Sans behind in a timeline, but I had no choice in the matter this time. Now the grubby little skeleton has my timekeep and is refusing to let go of it. I'll have to find a way to get it off of him, this plan cannot fail. In other news, the new coding I was beta-testing with Blueberry's scythes finally work. The special red code was inspired by his scythes, and how they paralyzed those it hit temporarily. I've had, a second version of the coding in the works, but it should be a success as well._

 _Entry 25:_

 _Today is the day. I've already sent Blueberry to do his final task for me. Lead the one holding the last timekeep to Error, so I can drag them both here and take it. Sans, Papyrus…dadster loves you, and he's sorry he was such a coward during the initial destruction of our timeline. I miss you two so much…._

Frisk looked back at the fight. There, they could see it. Timekeep Gaster's soul, broken in half, stitched together with the golden tendrils. The look in his eyes, behind the rage, was hurt. He slowly went from looking like a monster, to looking like a poor, hurt, skeleton who was tired, and depressed, and lonely. This chaos had to stop, because as terrible as Timekeep Gaster had been, he deserved mercy, too.

"PLEASE! THIS FIGHTING HAS TO STOP!" Frisk called. Everything lowered at once, all eyes turned to Frisk. "You're interrupting something very important here…" TKG growled. "What you're doing is wrong! There has to be another solution to this!" Frisk cried. "Other solution... I've tried to find another solution and it's basically impossible. Now step down, human," the red skeleton commanded. "You're hurt!" Frisk called. TKG tenses up. "You lost friends and family and everything you loved, you're hurt and you've clouded off everything else because you want to make the pain go away. There's more than one option, there just has to be!"

Timekeep Gaster sees red. "You tell me then, and while you're at it, bring my sons back to life, heck, repair my broken timeline! It's impossible to find another solution!" he growls. Tears begin to fill in his eye sockets. The tendril stiffen and grow limp as the red skeleton commanding them starts to cry. The area goes quiet as TKG sobs, heavy breaths wracking his melted ribs.

Keeper approaches, slowly lowering his own attacks. "Heya pal. It's ok…let it all out," he comforts, getting an idea. "I know it's impossible to bring your sons back, or to repair a broken timeline, but I wanna offer something in return," the blue-coated skeleton offers. "What could you possibly offer me aside from your timekeep…" huffed Timekeep Gaster. Without warning, Keeper teleports beside TKG and wraps his arms around him, giving him a big hug. "A second chance," Keeper answered, looking Gaster in the eyes.

" _You don't have to do this dad, please don't jump! Papyrus and I, we need you now. Just please give it a second chance, I don't want to lose you too!"_ The memory floods the red skeleton's mind as he looks back down at the other embracing him. The tears return, as he hugs back, sniffling into Keeper's coat. "I've been a fool…." Gaster sniffles in between tears.

"Heh, and that's how I got a dad. After that, Error Sans was sent back to the anti-void, where he couldn't reach this place again. It took a bit of negotiating in order to convince my new Dadster not to kill him after all, but hey, revenge is a dish that's really hard to cool down some days.

As for a new solution, well, did I ever tell you how much a genius Frisk is? Heh, the kiddo had this whole new system worked out. Members would form groups and jump over to different timelines, completing tasks for the betterment of the multiverse, a peaceful way of dealing with the risk of destroyed timelines without killing anyone. Chara even had a name for it, and I'm glad they didn't take to Asgore's terrible naming skills.

This new system's name? The Temporal Sentries, Dedicated to Peace and Prosperity in the Multiverse. But, you can just call it the Temporal Sentries. Anyone is allowed to join, but you have to pass a certain test, so we aren't letting any bad eggs in to compromise the system.

Those rescued in the Temporal Core warmed up to the idea pretty quickly. Some were even eager to join! Blueberry Error was definitely exited for it, as it may be a solution to his relationship problems with Error. Here's to hoping they become real friends someday. We get plenty of new members every day, and I've never sold more pancakes in my life, because, sign-ups take place at my pancake stand. All the money is going towards improvements in the Temporal Core, to make those still living there more at home, and increasing the accurateness of its scans.

Timekeep Gaster's job is to notify Temporal Sentry teams about issues that need to be solved and their severity. And, he's seemed so much happier since then. I make sure to visit when I can, and his smile looks more genuine every day. He really is a tired set of bones, but at an age when you were supposedly tuning to dust from natural causes within weeks, before being thrust into eternal life, can you really blame him? He's gotten a lot more rest since then, and he's loosened up since then.

Frisk and Chara? They're doin' great as well. I couldn't ask for better partners. Chara is so confident and ready to stand up for us at any time, and Frisk has to be the best diplomat this side of the Multiverse. I promised to keep 'em safe, and support them through the rest of all of this. They deserve every bit of praise for all of their hard work, and a long vacation.

As for myself? I've grown a lot less lazy with all of this Temporal Sentry business, and the souls in the blasters couldn't be more proud. Things are definitely looking up around here. But, I've rambled long enough, the kiddos are waiting for me. Heh….it's really a beautiful day outside…."

 **\- (Keeper) Sans the Skeleton.**


End file.
